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Energy Minister says gas storage and production to take Romania through winter with no imports
The gas storage is currently at 100.6% and, with what we will produce during the cold season, we should, in a moderate scenario, get through the coming winter without imports, Energy Minister Sebastian Burduja told a press conference on Monday.
"Several scenarios have been developed in the normative act related to the preparation for winter, which are related to the average temperatures and including the possibility of Romania supporting other countries, in particular supporting our brothers across the Prut. In a moderate scenario, Romania will not have any problem, given the degree of filling. And I'm telling you that today it's 100.6%. So, we have more than 100% of the technical reserve available at the storage capacity level. We have 400 million, 417 million to be precise, cubic metres more than last year at the same time. So, with what we'll still produce in the cold season, even if it is a lower production for technical reasons, with what we have in storage, we should be able to get through this winter without resorting to imports," said the minister.
He pointed out that if the winter is very hard and if the Republic of Moldova requires support from Romania at a level that cannot be covered from stocks and production, there is the option of taking gas from Azerbaijan or resorting to a possible purchase of liquefied natural gas.
"We have the option to take gas from Azerbaijan. We still have this option secured from before my mandate and it is valid until next spring. We're talking about a billion cubic metres that we can draw if we need to. Or a possible purchase of liquefied gas from Greece, most likely, or another option," Burduja said.